Resources

Historical State of the Union Messages

Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution requires that the President ". . . shall from time to time give to the Congress
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."
Like many precedents, President George Washington first established the practice of reporting to Congress once a year. Washington
gave his first annual message—what is now known as the State of the Union—to Congress on January 8th, 1790. He addressed Congress in
person in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City (the temporary seat of government at that time).

The second President, John Adams, also gave his annual messages in person but the practice was ended by Adams' successor,
Thomas Jefferson, who sent his messages to Congress in writing. Jefferson's written communication with Congress began a tradition
which lasted over a hundred years and was not broken until President Woodrow Wilson personally addressed a joint session of Congress in 1913.
With few exceptions, all subsequent Presidents have chosen to appear annually before a joint session of Congress to deliver their message.
The term "State of the Union" was first used to describe an annual message delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt but came
into common usage during the presidency of Harry Truman.

Many presidential messages and related documentation are part of the official records of Congress and are located in the holdings of
the Center for Legislative Archives. Below are small sampling of these historic messages.